U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,200 describes a hose clamp that includes a band for encircling an article such as a hosepipe. One end of the band includes a pair of jaws with internal teeth on the upper jaw; the other end of the band includes a serrated tongue with teeth on its upper surface that can be inserted, tip first, into the space between the jaws so that several teeth on the top jaw engage with corresponding teeth on the serrated tongue and hold the band in a closed position. The lower jaw lies adjacent to the hose. An extension is provided on the same end of the band as the tongue and overlies the top jaw when the two ends of the band are joined and keeps the top jaw from riding up and disengaging from the teeth of the tongue. When joined, the two ends of the clamp (known as the “head”) has a thickness made up of the thickness of each of the two jaws together with the thickness of the extension and the thickness of the tongue and hence is relatively tall. Such a clamp cannot be used in a restricted space, i.e. a space that is not large enough to accommodate the head or even in a space that does not to allow sufficient access to the head to tighten the clamp.
A hose clamp is known under the trade mark “SNAPPER” that is configured as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,200 but it provides a recess in the bottom of the tongue that accommodates the lower jaw when the clamp is fastened.
EP 1 138 533 describes a bracket for holding a refrigerant pressure container for a vehicle air conditioning system and includes a strap for encircling the container, a tongue on one end of the strap and a pair of jaws on the other end. The lower surface of the tongue and the inner surface of the lower jaw both have a set of teeth that inter-engage to hold the strap in a closed loop around the container and clamp the bracket on the container. The inter-engagement of different numbers of teeth provide different clamping forces on the container. Locking elements are provided on the upper jaw and the tongue that, when the teeth have been engaged to a certain extent, engage with each other and prevent the bracket being opened; however, the locking elements do not themselves engage to hold the tongue within the jaws against the tension in the strap.